20 Years of Research Initiatives Bangladesh

Table Of Contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• List of Figures
• List of Tables
• Foreword (Shamsul Bari)
• List of Abbreviations
• Introduction (Amena Mohsin and Mohammad Atique Rahman)
• The Origins
• RIB’s Aims and Objectives
• RIB at its Formation Phase
• RIB’s Vision and Aspirations
• Visibilising the Missing
• Modes of Knowledge Production
• Humanising Data Processing in Research
• Promoting Respect for Diversity
• Promoting Good Governance
• Promoting Participatory Action Research as a Social Mobilisation Tool
• Promoting Education Through Self-Help
• Pioneer in Alternative Poverty Research Initiatives in Bangladesh
• Demand-Led Research
• Participatory Approach to Research
• Promoting Participatory Action Research (PAR)
• Visibilizing Marginalised Communities or the ‘Missing Poor’
• Identifying Social Discrimination, Ethnic Discrimination and Poverty
• Promoting Low-Cost and Low-Technology Investment
• Initiatives Based on Traditional Knowledge, Experience and Local Environment
• Innovations, People and Technology
• Introduction of Early Childhood Learning Activities
• Capacity Building
• Innovation of Cross-Cutting Approaches to Poverty Alleviation Strategy
• Expanding Humanitarianism
• Promoting Right to Information (RTI)
• Working with Marginal Farmers on the Agrarian and Agroecology Issues
• Concluding Remarks
• References
• Endnotes
• My Journey with RIB (Shamsul Bari)
• The Founding of RIB
• RIB’s Focus is on Marginalised Communities
• Development of the Kajoli Early Childhood Learning Model
• Identification and Promotion of Creative Self-Help Initiatives of the People
• RIB’s Role in Monga Mitigation in Bangladesh
• RIB’s Involvement in the Adoption and Implementation of the RTI Act in Bangladesh
• The Link Between Agriculture, Climate Change and the Environment
• Some Concluding Remarks
• Part I Thematic Approaches
• Gonogobeshona or Participatory Action Research: Paving the Way from State-Centric Development to Participatory Movements (Meghna Guhathakurta)
• RIB’s Early Years of PAR: Introduction to Basic Concepts
• Fancy Begum and Her Team: Combating Violence Against Women
• Processes of Self-Enquiry: An Example of a Capacity-Building Workshop on PAR for the Youth
• From Self-Reliance to Communication with Local Authorities: RTI
• Santal Women Reclaim Graveyard from Land Grabbers
• Reference
• RIB’s Journey to Promote RTI Regime in Bangladesh (Ruhi Naz)
• Introduction
• RTI, Empowerment of the Marginal Communities, and Poverty Reduction
• Lessons We Learnt From Our Earlier Interventions
• Beyond Marginalisation and into New Discourses: Promoting RTI Activism
• Some Vivid Examples of the Use of RTI Which Brought Meaningful Change in Society
• Activists Work Lead to Improvement in the Health Sector
• Government Incentives for Indigenous Communities
• A timely Intervention by Local Citizens
• Conclusions
• Practicing Agroecology in Bangladesh: The Role of RIB (Suraiya Begum)
• Introduction
• Impact of Neoliberalism
• RIB’s Activities on Agroecology
• PAR Group Formation
• Preparing an Agroecology Manual
• Women’s School on Gender and Agriculture
• Ayesha, a Success Story
• Residential and Local Schools, Exchange Visit
• Agroecology Fair
• Agroecology and Students
• Local, National and International Dialogue
• Climate Crisis and Agriculture
• Interaction with Political Parties
• RIB’s Achievements
• Conclusion
• References
• Kajoli Early Childhood Development Centres: Turning Dreams to Reality (Md Matiur Rahman)
• Background
• Spreading the Kajoli Dream Throughout the Northern Districts
• The Education Foundation for Children from Marginalised Communities
• Components of Kajoli Centres Promoting Joyful Learning
• Creating an Environment and Joyful Opportunity for the Marginal Community
• Different Strategies for Adopting Kajoli Model
• Ensuring Quality Education
• Entire Children in One Family Studies at Kajoli Center
• The Teacher has also Found a Way to Become Self-Reliant
• Pandemic and Lockdown Could not Break the Kajoli Bond
• A Long Journey
• Conclusion
• Part II Case Studies
• Choitnno Kumar Das: Fighting Poverty and Untouchability as Dalits (Suraiya Begum)
• Lipi Tudu: An Indigenous Woman Moving Forward (Babul Chandra Sutradhar)
• Mina Biswas: Awakening the Pig Herders of Jashore (Babul Chandra Sutradhar)
• Munna Das: A Defender of Dalit Rights (Ruhi Naz)
• Appendix
• Notes on Contributors
• Index

List of Figures

Figure 1: Parameter to identify missing communities

Figure 2: RIB-supported projects in the first five years

Figure 3: Category-wise percentage of total research projects Duration (April 2002 to March 2011)

Figure 4: Distribution of RIB-supported projects in Bangladesh

List of Tables

Table 1: RTI projects of RIB (2011–2017)

Table 2: Initial list of Kajoli centres started in 2005

Table 3: The list of existing Kajoli centres

Table 4: Strategies

Table 5: Approved Projects (April 2002 to March 2012)

Table 6: List of Projects of RIB (2002–2024)

Foreword

More than twenty years have passed since a few of us, Bangladeshi citizens belonging to different professions and backgrounds, sharing a common vision for the development of an egalitarian and humane society in the country, came together to set up Research Initiatives Bangladesh (RIB), as a non-governmental research organisation. We had a unique opportunity created by an offer of generous financial support from the Royal Netherlands Government to take a fresh look at the poverty situation in the country and come up with fresh ideas for its alleviation, which are pertinent to our situation.

Driven by a visionary concept, the Multi-annual, Multi-disciplinary Research Programme (MMRP) of the Dutch Ministry of International Affairs had committed to providing us with long-term funding to develop ideas, identify goals and implement a research programme to address poverty issues in Bangladesh. We were made a part of their worldwide experiment in this regard, which included eight other countries on different continents. The idea was to promote a demand-based approach to research based on local needs undertaken by local researchers. It was a unique opportunity for us, with no strings attached and total autonomy to decide how we went about our business. Additionally, we could fund other research organisations in the country to partner with us.

With such a golden opportunity, we decided to be bold and innovative. We chose to focus on the most deprived sections of our country – communities ‘missing’ from our developmental programmes in those days – and decided to engage them in their own search for emancipation and become their own ‘agents for change’. We sought to chart a new path to ‘humanise the poverty discourse’ in the country through a more holistic approach to combating poverty, departing from the traditional focus on basic economic needs.

I had the honour of steering the process of establishing RIB and serving as its Executive Chairperson in the initial period and the Chairperson of its Board of Directors to date. We succeeded in attracting some of Bangladesh’s best minds and souls to RIB’s Board of Directors. They were stalwarts in their respective fields, but more than that, they were dedicated to RIB’s objectives, ever ready to guide its staff, not only with ideas but also with hands-on engagement with its activities. We also benefitted from the services of an executive director, who left her university job to guide its dedicated staff and help us realise our common dreams. All in all, we had a flying start.

RIB soon became well-known in the country for its innovative approach to research and development work and as a torchbearer and pathfinder in many fields. Its focus on the most marginalised sections of the population, including many who suffered from the curse of untouchability, apart from many other discriminations, the innovative approach of Participatory Action Research (PAR) that it propagated, its focus on community-run early childhood education, on the impact of climate change on vulnerable communities, on agroecology and food security and the use of the Right to Information (RTI) Act of the country to engage the population to obtain their rightful entitlements from the government and to make their presence and voice felt by government authorities, became well-recognised.

Twenty years after its establishment, we invited two external observers, Profs. Dr Amena Mohsin and Dr Mohammad Atique Rahman of the University of Dhaka to examine RIB’s work over the years. They would provide us with an objective assessment of their findings. Because RIB believed in engaging the ideas and thinking of the community and considered them to be people researchers or Gonogobeshoks (Bangla) in each research endeavour, we also included their thoughts and lived experience which colleagues of RIB helped to bring forth through their writings and case studies. RIB colleagues also contributed through including their own assessments and approaches in the implementation of the values and principles imbibed by RIB in their own respective sector of work.

I hope this volume, ‘Twenty Years of Research Initiatives, Bangladesh (RIB)’, will encourage other scholars to undertake more in-depth research on the various activities of RIB over the years and their impact on our society. RIB has accumulated many documents, reports, booklets and other research findings in its archives. We invite researchers to make good use of them. They will help shed important light on the journey of Bangladesh from a poverty-ridden third world, least-developed country to a mid-income developing nation over the last two decades.

Shamsul Bari,
Chairperson, RIB